Severe Weather Seminar 2023
Updated: Feb 14
Did you know…..
the National Weather Service’s (NWS) weather radar in Lincoln IL is 80 miles from Effingham? When the radar beam reaches Effingham county, it is over 10,000 feet above the ground! This is due to the curvature of the Earth. That means the NWS radar cannot detect any weather threats from their radar under that beam. They instead rely on accurate and timely reports from the “boots on the ground” to get a view of the weather events here.

The National Trail Amateur Radio Club (NTARC) is addressing this situation by hosting a FREE Severe Weather Seminar at the Thelma Keller Convention Center in Effingham on February 18th. Doors will be open to the public starting at 8:00am. The seminar will include talks from National Weather Service and American Radio Relay League about weather spotting, amateur (HAM) radio, and much more!
The Severe Weather Seminar will be broken up into two rounds. Each of the rounds will be identical so event goers can listen to both speakers. The first round of seminars starts at 8:30am. A quick recess for lunch will last from 11:30 am until 1:00 pm when the afternoon rounds start. See Russ Thomas's post for a list of speakers:
https://www.nationaltrailarc.org/post/what-s-happening-at-the-sws
As a reward for participating, the first 300 people through the door will receive a gift bag full of goodies! The National Trail Amateur Radio Club is hosting this event to be a free resource to the community. Our club also offers testing to get your amateur radio license. Donations and memberships to the NTARC are not required to attend, but are welcome. You can find out about all of this and more by asking any of our officers in the orange polo shirts at the event or by emailing info@nationaltrailarc.org. You can also support the NTARC by purchasing tickets to our meat raffle fundraiser.
For those who can't make it, you can watch live at our Facebook or YouTube pages:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/K9UXZ
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nationaltrailarc
We look forward to seeing you at the Severe Weather Seminar!